Delhi may be facing power crisis in the coming days as the State-run National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has threatened to snap power supply to Reliance-backed power discoms BSES Yamuna Power limited (BYPl) and BSES Rajdhani Power limited (BRPl) — over non-payment of dues amounting up to Rs1,300 crore.
The NTPC has said if the discoms do not pay their dues before May 10, then it will have to snap the power supply.
Meanwhile, reacting on the matter, a BSES spokesperson said the payment of dues to power utilities by BSES discoms is sub-judice in the Supreme Court.
While BRPl owes Rs892.30 crore for power allocation of 1,349 units from various NTPC power stations, BYPl owes Rs402.93 crore for power allocation of 678 MW.
BRPl supplies power to 14 lakh customers, spread over densely-populated Central and East Delhi areas. BRPl distributes power to over 21 lakh customers spread across South and West Delhi.
“The payments by the BSES discoms had become irregular for quite some time. The matter was brought before the Supreme Court of India, who in their judgement dated 26.03.2014 directed the BSES discoms to ensure payments of all current energy bills w.e.f. 01.01.2014. However, despite clear directions of the Supreme Court, the dues continued,” said the company in its public statement.
The NTPC said it has to pay in advance to its fuel suppliers which constitute about 75-80 per cent of its monthly energy bills.
“If the above situation continues, NTPC stations may be facing outages on account of shortage of fuel. Under the circumstances NTPC has no other option but to serve the notice for regulation of power on the BSES DISCOMs,” it said.
Meanwhile, reacting on the matter, a BSES spokesperson said while the matter is sub-judice in the Supreme Court, BSES discoms are also making “concerted efforts” to address the situation and clear pending dues in a “just and equitable manner”.
“The BSES is under huge financial stress due to non liquidation of regulatory assets estimated to be over Rs16,000 crore as on March 31, 2016. As compared to this, dues payable by BSES to NTPC is around Rs1,300 crore. The payment of dues to power utilities by BSES discoms is sub-judice in the Supreme Court. The judgement in the matter is reserved since February 2015. We are awaiting the Supreme Court judgement, which will clear the path for recovery and liquidation of regulatory assets,” the BSES said.
Delhi gets nearly 95 per cent of its power from Central and State power generating stations whose tariffs are determined by CERC and SERCs respectively. The total peak demand in Delhi during summer is likely to touch 6000 MW this year.